Putin calls for restraint over Syria

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin yesterday called for restraint over the Syria crisis, after talks with his French counterpart who accused President Bashar al-Assad of being deaf to pressure.
"We are calling for restraint and caution. This is our position," Putin told a news conference, the day after his foreign minister had likened the situation in Syria to a civil war.
Russia has accused the Syrian opposition of stoking the unrest in the country, a position that has irked the West.
French Prime Minister Francois Fillon issued a sterner statement against Damascus, saying Assad was ignoring international calls for reforms and an end to the lethal crackdown on demonstrators.
Diplomats from Germany, France and Britain tabled a resolution condemning human rights abuses by the Syrian government at the UN General Assembly's human rights committee on Thursday for a vote expected next Tuesday, officials said.